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Comet

LINEAR-NEAT

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301P/LINEAR-NEAT

Where is it now

Distance from Sun
4.464 AU
True anomaly
253.63°
Distance from Earth
3.902 AU
As of
22 October 2026

Two-body Kepler propagation — accurate to ~0.1% for major planets over decades, less so for highly-perturbed bodies. Use JPL Horizons for high precision.

Orbit of Mercury Orbit of Venus Orbit of Mars Sun Earth — 0.995 AU from the Sun Earth LINEAR-NEAT — 4.464 AU from the Sun LINEAR-NEAT
Seen from above the ecliptic, north up, to scale. Grid: Earth's orbit in blue. LINEAR-NEAT is 3.902 AU from Earth today (32.5 light-minutes).

In the sky

Right ascension
06h 00m 29s
Declination
+35° 33′ 16″
Constellation
Auriga
Distance from Earth
3.89 AU
Elongation from the Sun
119.33° — well clear of the Sun

Favours the northern hemisphere; low or below the horizon from far south.

From your location

See how high it is right now, whether it is up after civil twilight, and when it rises and sets where you are.

How do I find my coordinates?

Google Maps on a computer

  1. Right-click the spot where you'll be observing.
  2. The first line of the menu is the coordinates, e.g. 51.50722, -0.12758 — click it and they're copied.
  3. Paste them above.

Google Maps on a phone

  1. Press and hold the spot to drop a pin.
  2. The coordinates appear in the search bar (or on the pin's card) — tap to copy, then paste above.

A full Google Maps link works too, but the short maps.app.goo.gl share links don't carry coordinates — copy the numbers instead. We round to about a kilometre; that's all the sky calculation needs.

Know your what3words address? Paste it, e.g. ///filled.count.soap. This is optional — the three words are sent to what3words to convert them, and we don't store the address or the result.

Your location stays in your browser and is sent only for this calculation. Using a what3words address is optional; if you do, the three words go to what3words to be converted and we don't record them. Set a location first, then you can save an email alert for this object. See our privacy policy.

Two-body approximation, good to about a degree for the planets — enough to find the constellation and know whether it is up.

Orbital elements

Semi-major axis
5.687 AU
Eccentricity
0.5874
Inclination
10.62°
Orbital period
13.56 years
Perihelion
2.346 AU
Aphelion
9.028 AU
Longitude of ascending node
355.78°
Argument of periapsis
189.4°
Epoch · J2000
2452675.5
Orbit class · JFc
Jupiter-family comet (P < 20 y)
Earth MOID · 525.2 LD
1.3495 AU
Tisserand (Jupiter)
2.578

Orbit quality

Orbit very well determined (uncertainty code 1).

Observations used
126
Data arc
13.43 years
First observed
21 January 2001
Last observed
26 June 2014
Residual RMS
0.51 ″
Solution · Otto Matic
15 April 2021

Visual & observation

Absolute magnitude (H)
10.9
Total magnitude M₁ · K₁ 16.3
10.9

Discovery & classification

Also known as 301P · 301P/2001 BB50 · 301P/2014 K1

Named

Close approaches 9 on record

When (UTC) Body Distance Lunar distances Relative speed
2044-08-31 02:06:00 Juptr 1.8592 AU 723.5 LD 5.9 km/s
2107-06-25 01:30:00 Juptr 1.3162 AU 512.2 LD 11.4 km/s
2113-11-29 03:58:00 Satrn 1.8192 AU 708.0 LD 5.5 km/s
2144-06-15 04:59:00 Satrn 1.8142 AU 706.0 LD 4.4 km/s
2151-05-10 23:17:00 Juptr 0.5896 AU 229.5 LD 8.9 km/s

Next ten from today. 1 lunar distance = 384,400 km. Source: JPL close-approach data.

Sources